Let’s Talk About Sex: Barbarella

Earlier this week, I came across quite a different comic that brought a smile to my face. It’s not often that I come across older comics in general, but especially ones that have both lovely sexual content and strong female leads. Barbarella is like a dream come true, Fangirls.

On the surface, this comic was a beautiful cover that I came across online that caught my eye. After further investigation, I discovered the truth of Barbarella and all her glory. Barbarella is a comic from the 1960’s, originating from a magazine. A man named Jean Claude Forest created her & her story for the french V Magazine in 1963. From there, she grew to become a short comic series, and eventually an American movie starring Jane Fonda as the lead. So, just who is this Barbarella?

She’s a ass kicking space ranger, who wanders around a number of planets, tidying up trouble & getting to know the locals. Every where she goes, Barbarella seems to find herself engaging with men, lusting after all sorts of guys. She’s sexy & powerful, and never deemed some sort of promiscuous “slut”. She was having fun, exploring different planets and their people. This was not a comic showing off Barbarella for her physicality & sex appeal, it was showing her enjoying herself & kicking ass, too. She was a lead role, and not just because of her appearances & relationships with men. That’s something that still isn’t even very common in today’s stories.

Barbarella was a reflection of the growing global sexual revolution and the desire for sexual freedom for the women of France. Barbarella inspired many women and many other comics of that style. Barbarella was empowering for a lot of women, especially in France, and showed them that a woman could own her own sexuality and take charge of a kick ass science fiction story, too.

I can’t believe I stumbled upon a comic as perfect as this, but boy was it such a great surprise. You can find most of this comic online, Fangirls, and I encourage you all to check it out. Cheers for Barbarella, the fabulous French space ranger.

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